Methane explosions can affect the climate of the entire planet. Hundreds of millions of tons of methane may be hidden under the ocean floor, which is currently contained by the “cap” of the permafrost zone.
The Arctic is warming much faster than other areas of the world. One of the main reasons is the powerful emissions of methane, the second most important greenhouse gas, on the shelf of the seas of Eastern Siberia. Emissions of this gas are observed from an ancient deep source in the earth’s crust under the Laptev Sea, reports the International Consortium.
Methane penetrates into the gas-saturated sedimentary layer of rocks at the bottom of the sea from underlying gas hydrate deposits or from other even deeper sources. There is an opinion in the scientific world that colossal deposits of gas hydrates are hidden under the Arctic shelf. As the temperature increases and the pressure decreases, they decompose into gas and water.
The release of gas is accompanied by a significant increase in pressure, which can lead not only to the squeezing of methane up along faults and cracks, but also to explosions. As the Arctic continues to warm up and the northern seas are freed from surface ice in the summer, a sharp destruction of the permafrost layer may occur and a huge volume of methane will immediately enter the atmosphere, which will most likely affect the climate not only of the Arctic, but of the entire planet.
In addition, scientists are concerned about the increasing number of thunderstorms in the North Pole area. Near the North Pole there should be no warm vapors from the ground, one of the two main elements that provoke the appearance of lightning. Therefore, there should be no thunderstorms. “Thunderstorms in the Arctic are a clear sign that the ice is rapidly retreating, which frees up water areas. Warm vapor from them creates thunderclouds,” University of Washington professor Robert Holzworth tells Ecosphere.
American researchers have predicted that due to climate change, lightning will appear twice as often in the Arctic. This will lead to a sharp increase in the number of fires in the region. It is noted that scientists analyzed information about flares from NASA satellites in the northern part of the USA, Canada and the Russian Federation over the past 20 years.